Rumble in the Jungle
by WesDaaman
Summary: An insane mad scientist Earth Pony plans to conquer th galaxy with a rare unnamed mineral with natural elemental powers. Cheerilee is the most worried for this guy.
1. The Shocked Cheerilee

Have you ever felt as though part of your family had gone insane? And this family member has always been near and dear to you and now they're evil? Well then you must feel the same way Cheerilee feels in this story.

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Cheerilee just stood there in the center of Ponyville while Griffy was telling his friends about what he and Cheerilee had just witnessed. Cheerilee was in deep thought, trying to cope with what just happened.

To Be Continued


	2. My Insane Father

Griffy tapped Cheerilee on the shoulder and told her that they should tell what had just happened to the two of them, even if it meant emotionally hurting poor Cheerilee. So they began.

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(Flashback)

It was an ordinary day in Ponyville; all the residents of any species were doing what they always did.

An almost elderly male Earth Pony, with dark orange coloring on his body with brownish red eyes, a Cutie Mark of a bubbling yellow test tube and a dark green-colored mane and tail, was storming through the town, looking very angry, knocking down stuff by accident and on purpose. His name is Carbo and he is a scientist; often skilled in doing lab tests with geological minerals, so others would often call him Dr. Carbo (relating to carbon).

"Who needs this place anyways", he moaned to himself in frustration, "I'll find some way to get respect, but how?"

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"Wait up dad!", called a youngish female voice from behind as soon as he was outside of town. He stopped and turned his head to his daughter, Cheerilee, all grown up and trying to catch up with him while being accompanied by a small brown Griffin.

"Cheerilee!" exclaimed Carbo, "I have not seen you since your mother and I got separated in that earthquake, you were still just a little foal then"

"Well yeah, and I'm a school teacher now", she said, "Now what are you doing in town dad?"

"I was trying to get some money around here for mining expeditions but nothing worked, this place is useless to me", Carbo responded.

"But it's where I was born and where you met mom", Cheerilee said, looking worried for her father, "Do you just roam nomadically around Equestria?"

"That I do", said Carbo, who just then started to notice the small brown Griffin with Mammal ears standing next to Cheerilee.

"Jamboha sir!" said the Griffin, "I'm Griffy! I'm a Pygmy Griffin! I was just now giving Cheerilee some ideas on future lesson plans for her class and then spotted you"

"I'm Carbo, Dr. Carbo", replied Carbo, "And what does 'jamboha' mean?"

"It means hello in Gabbagonian", responded Griffy, "The language of Gabbagon, the area of the EverFree Forest I'm native too"

"Say", said Carbo, "Do you two want to come along with me and help me out in my latest mining expedition, spared no expense!"

Griffy and Cheerilee looked at each other in wonder and then decided to assist him.

"We are going to the great Natooli Jungle", said Carbo, "The largest jungle on the country of Equestria!"

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It took almost all day to get to the Natooli Jungle, but Carbo, Cheerilee and Griffy managed to get there in the end.

"Wait a minute!" said Griffy as soon as he acknowledged the jungle more properly, "I've been here before! On my quest for a new home, before I found Ponyville! Ritual Monkeys are the indigenous intelligent Beings here"

"According to my research", said Cheerilee, "Ritual Monkeys actually get offended when other Creatures call them that, for it is not what they call themselves. They call themselves 'Jikooba'"

"Anyway", said Dr. Carbo, "May we now locate the best mining place in this tangled undergrowth"

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As they trekked through the tropical forest, Cheerilee could not help but notice that the Natooli Jungle did not need a Pony's attention to function properly, just like the EverFree Forest.

"There!" shouted Carbo as he pointed at a large clearing with a small mountain in the center.

As they rushed over, Griffy and Cheerilee got a tiny bit worried about Carbo, for he was acting a little too insane; his eyes, lips and tail were twitching constantly.

They then spotted a piece of shiny, rainbow-colored mineral sticking out from the rocks at the small mountain's base. Carbo immediately zoomed over, yanked it out with his teeth and tossed it into his side pack.

"I think I've seen that mineral before", said Cheerilee trying her best to recall where, "It was in an encyclopedia I was showing to my class the other day and this mineral type is currently unnamed, but it is one of the planet's most precious resources to rely on and I'm talking about the planet needing it, not a living thing"

"Who cares!" snapped Carbo, his eye twitching like a psychopath, "Once I harness enough of this stuff, I shall be immortal and I'll rule the galaxy!"

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Griffy and Cheerilee gasped in shock at what Carbo had just explained he had basically become so obsessed with this unnamed mineral that he had turned evil.

"And now for a target!" he said as a large Creature came lumbering into the clearing, curious about all this activity. It was and enormous, Hippopotamus-sized, emerald-green Scorpion.

"A Jungle Giant Scorpion!" Carbo said in excitement, "Perfect!"

He then took out the rainbow mineral from his side pack with his teeth, shook it and let it fire out a beam of elemental energy at the Jungle Giant Scorpion, causing its pale yellow eyes to turn piercing red and walk right over to Carbo.

"Weird", gulped Griffy, "That stuff can control the minds of living things?"

Carbo shook the mineral and it blasted out some more energy, striking a pair of nearby dark-green Wolves with Lizard-like tails and feet (simply known as Lizard Wolves), causing them to also get red eyes and come over to Carbo.

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"Soon", announced Carbo with insanity, "The most physically powerful Animals of the Natooli Jungle shall do my bidding in defending me while I raid the entire supply of rainbow-colored mineral! MWA-Ha-hahahahaha!"

"Why would you do this daddy?" asked the shocked Cheerilee with tears coming from her eyes.

"I will finally get some respect around here!" Carbo shouted with a crazy look on his face, "You may join me if you'd like, daughter"

Griffy encouraged Cheerilee to pull herself together as they made a break for it, rushing back into the jungle. Carbo just made another evil laugh while his controlled Scorpion and Wolves stood there.

"We need to do something!" exclaimed Cheerilee in panic as soon as she and Griffy made it out of the Natooli Jungle, "If he steals ever single bit of that stuff, the planet will physically fall apart!"

"All we need to do is find some help and I know where to get it", responded Griffy as soon as they speeded back for Ponyville as the sun was setting.

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"Whoa!" said Rainbow Dash as soon as the flashback ended "Looks like we've got Psycho-Pony on the loose"

"We should try and stop Dr. Carbo", said Twilight, "Or else the planet will die without that precious unnamed mineral"

"Let's go check with Princess Celestia for advice", suggested Cheerilee, acting a bit nervous, "Hope she knows about crazy dads"

To Be Continued


	3. Brain Waves near Canterlot

Before the nine Creatures could depart Ponyville for Canterlot, Griffy stopped to wonder about the mysterious mineral; for it looked oddly familiar.

"Hey Griff", asked Spike, "What's with your deep thought face"

"It's as though I have recently gotten deshavu", replied Griffy, "Anyway, let's head for Canterlot already"

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Just as soon as the group was 20 meters away from the city of Canterlot, Griffy haulted and jumped into a nearby Blueberry Bush quivering in fear.

"Oh dear", said Fluttershy quietly as she peeked through the bush to find Griffy shaking with fear and his body curled up like a Dog, "Is there something frightening you"

"Sorta", replied Griffy as he poked his head out of the bush, "Those Unicorn Pony royal guards are out there at the main entrance and they hate me as much as the Pegasus Pony royal guards"

"I could conjur up some sort of disguise for you", said Twilight as Griffy got out of the bush with Fluttershy checking him for scratchs the bush may have done to him, "But it's a spell that's sort of complicated"

"I agree", added Rarity, "I've tried the same thing before and it was a failure"

"Don't make me laugh", said Griffy, "Now I've been keeping a big secret from absolutley every living thing I've met. Using magic for such purposes as combat is insignificant, next to the power of brain waves"

"Brains waves?", questioned Twilight with a puzzled face, "You actually believe that that old scientist's religion is more stronger than magic?"

"Observe", said Griffy as he lifted up his right forelimb, looked directly at Spike and then made a face that looked as though he were trying to deficate. Spike was then being telekinized. Twilight gasped in shock, for there was a colorful aura around the floating Dragon just the aura magic makes, but there were no sparkling lights coming from it (for that is what magic makes, little sparkles of light).

"These unshiny powers I am performing", said Griffy as he let Spike go and the aura disappeared, "Are the power of brain waves, way stronger than your silly magic you Unicorn Ponies can do. But it's very very hard to do really"

"Can you use 'brain waves' to disquise yourself?", asked Cheerilee, Curiously, "I mean like invisibility or shape-shifting"

"'fraid not", said Griffy, "That's scientifically impossible"

_To Be Continued_


	4. Results of Suprise

The royal guards noticed 7 mares and a male Dragon chick approaching. They immediately recognized Twilight Sparkle and Spike, so they let them all through. One guard, though, happened to notice something with the shy Pegasus girl, Fluttershy, for her long, pink was somewhat moving; as if their was someone or something hiding in her mane and breathing deeply from nervousness.

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As soon as they got past the guards, Griffy emerged from Fluttershy's mane while both sweating and panting at the same time.

"It's as they say," he said, "Fluttershy's mane is so large and adorably pretty, that it actually gets hot in there."

Fluttershy blushed in response to Griffy's joke while smiling with her head a tiny bit low. "Was that supposed to be a compliment, Griffy?" she asked as Griffy sat on her back.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you trying to say that I'm..." asked Fluttershy, bashfully, "..._pretty?_"

"Whoa!" exclaimed Griffy, leaping off of Fluttershy and flying in place in the air. "That's going to far there, Flutter. I'm not a Pony, so I don't want to hit on you."

"If ya'll are quite done with tryin' to negotiatin' love and like stuff...", Applejack interrupted, "then we should be headin' fer the palace now"

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The 9 beings got into the throne room to find Celestia practicing her warp powers on a bowl of fruit and Luna reading a book about nocturnal Reptiles and Amphibians.

"Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "We have a big problem here."

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After the gang of eight explained everything about Cheerilee's dad, Dr. Carbo, and his bizarrely mad quest for power...

"It would appear that we have a scientific situation at hoof," said Celestia.

"I couldn't agree more, sister," concurred Luna as she telekinized CHIP over to Spike. You may need to find more back-up for such a task like this one."

"I may have seen this mineral before," said Griffy, "Probably back home in Gabbagon."

"What's Gabbagon?", asked Twilight.

"Is it a place to have excitement and fun?" squealed Pinkie Pie with joy.

"It can be", said Griffy, aware of his pink friend's overly chirpy nature. "It's the area of the EverFree Forest that I come."

"Looks like we're going to Griffy's homeland," appointed Rarity. "I wonder if Gabbgon has any shopping stores, I can just imagine the accesories all Gabbagonian women wear."

"Whatever," sighed Griffy, feeling pretty annoyed. "Anyway, you all might want to practice on your Gabbagonian language."

"Here's a global language book," said Celestia, telekinizing an encyclopedia on all known languages of the planet.

"This book might be perfect for one of my future lesson plans", explained Cheerilee. "Now let's go to Gabbagon and find more evidence of the unnamed rainbow mineral. We can't let my father win and destroy the Natooli Jungle."

"Winning and destroying is my _specialty!_" declared a brave Rainbow Dash. There was an awkward pause before the best flyer in all Equestria chuckled sheepishly and said "Uh... What's the plan again?"

_To Be Continued_


	5. Gabbagon

After a short while of traveling by foot to the EverFree Forest, Cheerilee and the representatives of the Elements of Harmony were anxious about returning to the EverFree Forest (some just scared of the unknown and others just a little excited). Spike could not help but notice that Twilight kept talking out loud to herself in a language he could not understand.

"Jamboha," said Twilight outloud to herself, as long as she could. "Jino langko'u nioa Twilight Sparkle."

"No need to introduce yourself to us already," said Griffy. Then, starting to understand, he added "Oh wait, you're just practicing Gabbagonian, ain't you?"

"So that's what that language your speaking to yourself is?" Spike asked Twilight.

"I'm just trying my best to sound authentic in Gabbagon," responded Twilight.

Spike had noticed for a while that Griffy had a thick Gabbagonian accent when speaking in Ponytalk (the language of the Ponies). He then also realized that whenever Griffy would talk to him, he would still speak in Ponytalk; since Griffy did not know any Draconese (Dragon language) nor did Spike understand any Gabbagonian or Griffonic (the ancient language of the Griffins and Hippogriffs).

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As the cavalcade walked through the EverFree Forest, a small group of ParaSprites buzzed past them.

"Not _those_ nasty little vermin again," sighed Griffy, "I haven't seen much of them in my life in the EverFree Forest, but I sure felt them at full annoyance when they attacked Ponyville, remember?"

"Don't _remind_ me," groaned Rarity. "I am still trying to _forget_ about them."

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Just a little further on the road, the nine friends finally made it to Gabbagon. It was an enormous clearing (a little larger than Ponyville itself) with really small groves of small Trees dotting it every now and then. There was also in the very center, a small hill with a ring of large rock surrounding the very top of the hill. There were also many sorts of creatures roaming around the place as citizens of Gabbagon: Opossums, Cardinals, Gargoyles, Gremlins, Iguanas, Weasels, Porcupines, and more.

"That hill with the rocks on it is where I used to go to school," exclaimed Griffy. "Yeah, baby! It sure does feel _great_ to be home!"

That's when Griffy started to dart around in the air while smiling gleefully and singing some sort of really short song in Gabbagonian that sounded like this:

_Ninaka'i no furahau!_

_Ninaka'i no furahau!_

_Ndiya'i_

_Ndiya'i_

_Ndiya'i_

And suddenly, the rest of the song was lost as soon as Applejack grabbed him by the tail with her teeth as soon as he was close enough.

"If ya'll can stop relivin' yer chahldhood," Applejack reminded her friend, "we should be findin' evidence on that mineral."

_To Be Continued_

PS: All Gabbagonian words are really Swahili and Hawaiian words combined and a Gabbagonian accent is really a Maine accent.


	6. Entering Griffy's Old Home

All of a sudden, before the group could enter Gabbagon, Griffy did something quite unexpected. He was so happy about being home again that he let out a crazy fangirl sequel. He then stopped when noticed the 8 others staring at him with "what the?" faces. Griffy blushed with an embarrassed expression and mumbled something to Spike.

"Awkward," he mumbled in Spike's ear.

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Just as the group was starting to enter the great clearing of Gabbagon, Griffy suddenly halted, backed up and got into a coward position.

"What's wrong Griffy?", asked Fluttershy.

"I'm having a flashback to the day I left the EverFree Forest", said Griffy in an very fear-filled voice, "Those old school bullies of mine, they could be waiting. They were just... so... ZIRLA-LOO!"

The Ponies and Spike looked at Griffy in confusion at the Gabbagonian exclamation he just did. Griffy gasped in horror at what he just said.

"Sorry, I just said a rude word", said Griffy with regret and then started to use a piece of bark to wipe his tongue.

"Do you have to hide in Fluttershy's mane again?" said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

"Thanks for the idea, but you Ponies might need some sort of disguise too, for we EverFree Forest inhabitants typically treat Ponies like threats, for we see your world to be just not... well, _natural._"

Applejack blushed in embarrassment as hearing Griffy say just what she said a while back about the EverFree Forest being unnatural and just now finding out that EverFree Forest Creatures think the Pony world is unnatural.

"Now Ponies are easily recognized around here by their wings, horns and tail hairs", said Griffy, "So here's what I've got in mind"

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The seven Ponies then had Cycad leaves wrapped around tails. The two Pegasi had their wings covered up by vines and the two Unicorn Ponies had their horns covered up hardening Tree sap. Griffy hid underneath Fluttershy's mane and Spike just acted like an ordinary EverFree Forest inhabitant as they all walked through Gabbagon. All around, there was the scent of ripe fruit and Vanillia and the fertile musk of a jungle. There was also the high-pitched calls of Parrots and the faint crackle of longish Grasses drying in the sun. They could also hear a lot of the local Gabbagonian Creatures playing instruments (flutes, drums and violin-like instruments) in a soothing melody.

Fluttershy gasped. "This has to be the most beautiful place in the EverFree Forest I've ever seen," she mused.

Griffy, at that moment, stuck out his arms and gave Fluttershy a "thank you" hand gesture.

_To Be Continued_


	7. Advice From a Bobcat

As the group trekked through Gabbagon, some of the native Gabbagonian Creatures were staring at the disguised Ponies awkwardly. These were of course just attempted disguises since the Creatures of Gabbagon do not trust Ponies at all. The really superstitious ones think they're Kurayami's spawn.

Spike was trying to pass the Ponies on as a new species of Donkey with broken Gabbagonian.

As they all walked through Gabbagon, they all had to admit that it had to be one of the most beautiful places in the EverFree Forest. They all enjoyed to hear the local Creatures playing music on their instruments: flutes, drums and violin-like instruments.

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Just a little further on, Griffy peeked through Fluttershy's mane and spotted a large pond up ahead.

"Over there!" he announced to the others while still hiding in Fluttershy's mane, "There's a really elderly Bobcat who lives by their and has known so much since I was a chick-cub"

As soon as the gang reached the pond, they suddenly spotted the old Bobcat Griffy was talking about, drinking the pond's water. He had slightly crippled-looking legs and wore a small amulet necklace.

Suddenly, just as Griffy was getting out of Fluttershy's mane, Rarity spotted a merchant Kiel-Billed Toucan at his stand of jewelry made from many kinds of semi-precious stones.

"Excuse me girls and boys", appointed Rarity, "I am going to make a purchase and look as good as any female here in Gabbagon"

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Griffy quickly got out of Flutterhshy's mane and raced over to the elderly Bobcat.

"Hello, Mr. Bobcat guy!" Griffy spoke in Gabbagonian to the Bobcat, "Remember me? I'm Griffy, that Pygmy Griffin who was always asking stuff from you"

"Ah yes", replied the Bobcat in Gabbagonian, "And what do you and your travelling companions here want?"

"Well you see sir", said Twilight coming over to them, trying her best Gabbagonian she practiced, "We have primarily come seeking a certain mineral, do you know of any that have the color of rainbows?"

"I do believe that the last time I saw such a geological gem was that way", said the old Bobcat, pointing towards the northwestern edge of Gabbagon in which there was a small mountain, "But be warned, the mountain has, for a long time, been rumored to be cursed. However, I am neutral about that hypothesis"

Cheerilee then came up, hearing all about where to go to find more on the mysterious mineral, and thanked the Bobcat in Gabbagonian, "Asenhalo", she said.

"Did I miss anything or did you miss me getting the fashion of a life time!", said a familiar female voice from nearby.

The group looked to see Rarity with a crown made of real gold, bracelets made of real silver around her four hooves and a necklace made of real emerald.

"My Gabbagonian worked perfectly to make a fine purchase out of these accessories", she appointed, doing a fashion model pose.

Just as Spike was about to fantasize about her, Griffy immediately bonked his noggin and glared at him.

"Now let's get moving", said Cheerilee, "We need to find more of the mineral before my father takes control over all"

_To Be Continued_


	8. Bullies & Insults

As the group trekked towards the small mountain near the edge of Gabbagon, they were suddenly stopped by 3 sinister-looking Creatures that made Griffy hide behind Rainbow Dash in fear. The three Creatures were a female Hippogriff named Hilda, a male Coyote named Coyvo and a male Pygmy Griffin named Grooli.

"Well, well, well," said Grooli in Gabbagonian, "If it isn't our old punching bag, Stiffalonius Von Loserton III!"

The three bullies then laughed so hard at Grooli's insult. Griffy poked his head out from behind Rainbow and gulped. The only ones who could understand the bullies' insults were Rarity, Cheerilee, Spike and Twilight (since they practiced Gabbagonian).

Rainbow was evidently a little bit uncomfortable with Griffy clinging to her. "Uh, I know you're scared, Griffy," she said, trying to be nice, "but I'd appreciate it if you didn't need my protection at _this_ range next time. Okay?"

Griffy chuckled a bit sheepishly. Rainbow had a point. She had a public image to uphold.

"Oops. Sorry, Rainbow." Getting back to business, he continued in his nervous way, "Those guys are one of the three reasons why I left the EverFree Forest in the first place. Old bullies from school."

"Sounds familiar," sighed Rainbow, remembering the time she had to defend Fluttershy from some Pegasi bullies at Cloudsdale Summer Flight Camp when they were fillies.

Twilight, at that moment, took a mental note about a strong difference between Griffy and this other male Pygmy Griffin, named Grooli. Not only was Grooli slightly taller than Griffy because of age, but the real clear difference was that Grooli's eyes were as yellow as Gilda, the giant Griffin's eyes while Griffy's eyes had been light blue for all his life.

"We thought we told you to get lost," said Hilda.

"Oh, uh," stammered Coyvo, "Yeah!"

"So what brings you home, Sky-Eye?" inquired Grooli, giving another grizzly grin.

"Me and my new friends here have come for a quick errand," said Griffy, looking very serious, "Now leave our sights, please."

"'Sky-Eye?'" asked Twilight, "What does that mean?"

"It's because of my blue eyes," sighed Griffy. "It's very rare for Griffins to get them, it's just genetic."

"If you wanna mess with Griffy," Rainbow said in her usual bold manner, "you're gonna have to mess with _me._"

"Hm..." pondered Hilda, smiling. "A Pony with _guts_. This could be _fun_."

"Oh yeah?" challenged Rainbow. "_Bring_ it."

"Forget it, Hilda," said Grooli to the Hippogriff. "We've got better things to do. See you round, Sky-Eye." And with that, all three of the riffraff left, chuckling.

"Give me a break," sighed Griffy.

Fluttershy went over Griffy and hugged him, realizing he was currently miserable, and he hugged her back with very sad expression.

"Who would know you had bullies?" said Fluttershy calmly.

"_Tell_ me about it!" said Pinkie Pie, "Has that Grooli guy got a problem with blue eyes? Then have him insult _my_ blue eyes and I'll show him a thing or 20!"

"Then again," complimented Rainbow, "'Sky-Guy' sounds like a cool nickname, if you ask me. It's kinda like... eyes in the sky."

Griffy blushed. He didn't expect that a disparaging nickname could be turned into something of affection.

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Meanwhile, many miles away in the Natooli Jungle, Dr. Carbo was still using mind-controlled Creatures to dig out the precious unnamed mineral and put in wooden boxes made out of local Tree bark. The creatures "mining" were Jungle Giant Scorpions, Mega-Wasps, Saber-Toothed Apes and Lizard Wolves (some of the Natooli Jungle's most powerful Animals)

"Yeeeeeeessss," said Carbo with his left eye twitching and lips twitching while he grinned sinisterly. "Soon I will be unstoppable and of any try and stop me, I will just use the natural power of the rainbow mineral on them and turn them into one of my servants, just like these big and strong critters. I still can't believe that daughter of mine, Cheerilee, won't join me. But no matter...She'll change her mind soon enough."

Carbo then reared up on his hind legs, kicking his front legs in the air and laughed with insanity while imaginary lightning was all around him.

_To Be Continued_


	9. Minerals Found!

As the group of 9 trekked up the small mountain, Rainbow Dash was wondering about how cool her name would sound if translated in Gabbagonian language. She decided that the best source she knew would have to be Griffy.

"How would you say my name in Gabbagonian, Griff?" asked Rainbow eagerly.

"Upinuenue Kasikiwiki", responded Griffy, "That's what we'd call you in Gabbagon"

Rainbow was at first a little confused on how to pronounce her translated name as good as Griffy did, but she still liked the sound of it overall.

"How about me?" asked Rarity, "I believe my Gabbagonian translated name shall be simply divine, indeed"

"Nadrihini", replied Griffy.

"Sounds like a fashion prototype", said Rarity, "But I guess I'll have to get used to being called that by Gabbagonians who don't speak Ponytalk"

"Oh viingizui", Griffy moaned, "What is up with your need to look good all the time"

"Is that a bad word you said", asked Rarity.

"Not really", replied Griffy, "Just an ordinary PG-rated exclamation used by us Gabbagonians every day"

At the very same moment, Twilight was feeling really concerned about those bullies insulting Griffy's light blue eyes which made his gaze look kind of beautiful.

"I know what you're thinking Twi!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing next to Twilight, "I can't stand others being rude to ones with blue eyes"

Pinkie then leaped over to Griffy and accidently tackled him over.

"Never fear, Griffalonius!" said Pinkie in a heroic voice, "You can always count on me, fellow blue-eyed Being"

She looked at him directly into his eyes and Griffy pushed her away at the second.

"A little room Ms. Pie, or Pinkie, whatever you prefer to be called. I believe what we have here is a running joke", said the Pygmy Griffin as he and Pinkie ran to catch up with the rest of the group as they all moved up the mountain face.

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All of a sudden, Spike spotted a reflective light up ahead.

"GEMS!" he squealed in delight and quickly rushed away from the rest of the group towards the reflective light.

"Spike!" shouted Twilight, "I don't think those are gems stones!"

As soon as the young Mountain Dragon reached the light's source, he then got bummed out. The rest of the group finally caught up to see.

"It's nothing but a bunch of crystalline rubble", sighed Spike, "It's colored like a rainbow"

That's when Griffy and Cheerilee recognized it as the rare unnamed mineral that is most precious to the planet itself.

"This is it!" said Cheerilee, "Now we need info"

Cheerilee then reached into her side pack and got out CHIP, the talking gadget, and handed it to Griffy.

"Okay CHIP", said Griffy, "Scan this stuff"

CHIP then projected out his scanning hologram on the minerals.

"This is the most preciously needed mineral to the whole of the world", spoke CHIP, "Without it, the planet will fall apart"

That's when Rarity stopped herself while she attempted to take a sample of the mineral in hopes of new fashionable jewelry and blushed in embarrassment.

"Now that we just found out we did not actually need to come here and find out stuff we already knew", spoke Cheerilee, "We can now stop my crazy dad from ruining everything in Equestria, including the rest of the planet"

_To Be Continued_


	10. Arrival & Injuries

The group of 9 was then inside CHIP, who had transformed into a space shuttle-like flying vehicle, on their way to the Natooli Jungle. Meanwhile on the ground below the flying machine, those two genetically-altered Ponies; Chop and Digger, were feeding on wild Strawberries.

"Look Digger!" said Chop, pointing at the sky, "It's a huge robot Bird!"

"Your ignorance is obviously taking control of your natural imagination", muttered Digger, not bothering to look up.

That's when Spike peeked through one of the windows of CHIP to see Chop and Digger down on the ground below them.

"Look", he said, "It's Chop and Digger; those genetically-mutated Ponies are beneath us"

"Oh dear", said Rarity, "Not them again"

That's when CHIP's enemy sensors detected the two mutants and then started to drop acorn-sized metal balls on the two (NOTE: The effect here is to annoy the enemy before actually using destruction)

"OW!" yelled Chop as soon as one of the balls bonked his head, "You hit me!"

"No I didn't!" snapped Digger, "Well that's not a bad idea...OW!" he yelled as soon as another ball hit him this time, "What did you do that for?"

"Do what?" asked Chop.

"That", said Digger as soon as a whole shower of metal balls was all around them. Digger then looked up to see where it was coming from and recognized the flying machine's design. "Oh great, it's those rotten little heroes again"

The two then quickly took cover into a grove of Trees nearby.

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Pretty soon, CHIP arrived at the Natooli Jungle. The group boarded off and CHIP transformed back into a calculator-like gadget.

"Well Cheerilee", said Griffy to Cheerilee, "Welcome to Natooli again"

"Now let's go find and stop that insane father of Ponyville's best school teacher", said Spike.

As the nine walked through the jungle, they were all so amazed by its natural beauty. The Trees were mainly very tall and kind of primitive-looking. Long, green vines dangled low and the call of Insects and Birds came from everywhere. Fluttershy loved the tropical beautiful most of all, despite the fact that this jungle's environment was as independent as the EverFree Forest.

All of a sudden, Rarity accidently tripped over a Tree root, slid through the dirt toppled down a hill. She wailed in horror, not so much because of getting injured; more so much as to the fact she was getting covered in natural filth.

The group rushed down the hill to find Rarity unconscious from her impact. Spike attempted to rush over to her but Griffy immediately grabbed his tail, yanked him back over and snorted at him in the face.

"What are we gonna do about her condition?" asked Applejack.

"Perhaps we can help", spoke a deepish voice from the Trees.

There sitting in one of the Trees nearby were three Jikooba Monkeys sitting on the same branch together, two young adult females and an aging male. They climbed down, rushed over to Rarity's out cold body and started to grind up some berries and leaves with natural healing medicines inside. The group stepped back and watched the Jikooba do their strange heeling ritual by humming and shaking their maraca-like instruments above Rarity with the berry juice and leaf pieces placed on her cuts and scrapes.

"So are those Ritual Monkeys?" whispered Rainbow to Griffy.

"Yes, but don't call them that please", answered Griffy, "They get gravely offended when things like Ponies call them that"

"We now must wait" said the old male Jikooba, "Rest is the best cure for a condition like this"

_To Be Continued_


	11. Soarin' Comes Along

As the group just sat there with the Jikooba, waiting for the injured Rarity to come to, a much unexpected visitor crashed out of the sky and next to the group with a huge thud.

"Man", said the Being in a familiar male voice, "That's the last time I try doing a Sonic Rainboom without using my eyes"

The Being was none other than Soarin', from the Wonderbolts, not wearing his uniform this time. Rainbow Dash then got hormonal nervousness and hid behind Fluttershy, blushing with her heart pounding quickly.

"Hey, it's our planets current prime heroes", said Soarin' as soon as he acknowledged the group, "Joined now by some purple Earth Pony gal"

"The name's Cheerilee", replied Cheerilee, "And you look like you're from the Wonderbolts"

"And guess what, I am from the Wonderbolts", said Soarin', "Now is this the Natooli Jungle? It looks like the one I saw in a geography book once"

"Indeed your wisdom seems moderate", said the old male Jikooba.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rainbow looked from behind Fluttershy and saw Soarin' still talking to the rest of the group and she could not help but admire his handsome face and light green eyes. Soarin' then caught a glimpse of Rainbow and started to slow down his speech as he saw her pretty face and her rose-colored eyes.

This sparked an inspiration in Griffy's mind and he quickly whispered his idea in Spike's ear. The next thing the Ponies and Monkeys knew it, Spike and Griffy jumped in front of all of them and started to rather short sing together about Soarin' and Rainbow Dash in love with each other:

_Rainbow Dash had_

_Apple-bottom jeans!_

_Boots with the fur!_

_The whole club was lookin' at her!_

_She hit the floor!_

_Next thing you know,_

_Soarin' got low low low low low_*

The song ended with Griffy and Spike cracking up so hard at what they just did.

"Well", said Soarin' all nervous about someone catching onto his affections for Rainbow Dash, "I got to go home now to Cloudsdale. Do well in your latest adventure clearly"

As soon as he started to fly back up to the clouds, he stopped to mention one last thing, "Rainbow Dash, be sure to be safe now. We don't want that pretty face of yours to get scratched", and quickly flew away.

Rainbow just blushed massively, being more at touch with her soft side.

"If this romance game is done", announced the old Jikooba, "Me and my two nieces here should check on fashionable one's status"

_To Be Continued_

* A spoof of the song "Low" by Flo-rida


	12. Up in the Trees

As Rarity came to, she thought she was seeing imaginary Primates with feather headdresses staring at her. She then realized what she was seeing was not a dream.

"Oh my stars!" she said as she pulled herself off the ground, "I do admire your fancy headdresses, where can I get such accessories?"

"These are traditional outfits, Pony", said one of the two female Monkeys.

"Now come with us", said the old male Monkey, "We know of where you all may have hospitality for a while"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The group of 9 followed the three Jikooba into the jungle and ended up at the base of a tall Kapok Tree.

"Up there is where our huts are", said one of the two female Jikooba, "Are Ponies able to climb Trees?"

"No", replied Twilight, "But maybe the Pegasus Ponies can get up there"

"Well we can't exactly perch in Trees, you know", said Rainbow, a little annoyed at what Twilight hypothesized.

"I got it", said Griffy, "The Pegasus Ponies can fly into the huts in the branches, the Unicorn Ponies can teleport themselves, the Earth Ponies and Spike up into the huts and I can just get up there myself, we Pygmy Griffins are extremely used to Tree life"

"When I'm older, I'll be able to fly", said Spike.

"Question", Rarity asked Griffy, "Why do always call my race of Pony by our proper race name and not our nickname, "Unicorns""

"Because", said Griffy, "Unicorns are actually another sort of Perissodactyl with _Hyracotherium_ or Tapir feet and they get really offended when Unicorn Ponies call themselves simply "Unicorns", for Unicorns are what your race of Pony physically resembles, remember William the "actual" Unicorn?"

"Just like how we get offended when other species call us "Ritual Monkeys"", said the elder male, "Now let us stop with name actuality and find ways to get you all in the Trees, for it is very dangerous on the forest floor at night"

Griffy and the two Pegasus Ponies flew up into one of the Jikooba huts in the Kapok Tree while the two Unicorn Ponies used their teleportation spells on themselves, Spike and the Earth Ponies to get up in the Jikooba huts above in the Tree.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The whole group of 9 were in the same hut together, the largest hut in the Tree specifically, the alpha male Jikooba's personal headquarters. The Ponies and Griffy were given Mangos to eat and Spike was given Millipedes to eat.

"You sure you don't have any gem stones to eat?" asked Spike.

"Why would we Monkeys be eating gems?" asked the young male Jikooba serving him, "And by judging your physical appearance, you are the sort of Reptile which is carnivorous by your true nature"

"Whatever", moaned Spike as he munched on the Millipedes.

"I could use some protein", interjected Griffy, "I may be eating fruit right now, but I'm an omnivore and I need some meat with my vegetables"

The Jikooba then got out a large hunk of nearly rotten Deer carrion for Griffy to eat. Griffy was then joined by Spike as the two ate the hunk of dead Deer meat. The Ponies got a little frightened at the sight of their two companions eating like true predators, but they had to get used to it.

"Attention!", announced the alpha male Jikooba to the other Jikooba and 9 travelers, wearing the most fanciest head dress in the hut, "I have discussed with the Pony called Twilight Sparkle about why she and her friends have come to the Natooli Jungle and it looks as though we may need to do some sort of therapy ritual on the one who is most worried on this mission. The purple one called Cheerilee"

"That's me", said Cheerilee, "How are we going to do this?"

"Come now", said the alpha Jikooba and climbed out of the hut jumped to the next Tree over with the rest of the Jikooba following him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash picked up Cheerilee together and brought her over to the other Tree which had the enormous vine-made "hive" that Griffy had come across a while back. They placed Cheerilee on a large branch connected to the "hive". She then walked in through a hole-like entrance and discovered the amazing inside where all the Jikooba were seated and preparing their instruments. Their leader was seated in the very center of the group and encouraged Cheerilee to walk over to him and the other Monkeys.

"Please be seated", said the alpha and Cheerilee sat down on the floor made of nearly impenetrable vines.

The alpha Jikooba then announced to the rest of the Jikooba in their own language that the ceremony was about to start.

_To Be Continued_


	13. Cheerilee's Confidence Found

All the male and female Jikooba then started to play their instruments as the alpha male walked over to Cheerilee, still seated on the think Foliage floor.

"Close your eyes", said the alpha male, "And we shall find what bothers you currently"

Cheerilee closed her eyes, listening to the soothing sound of the drums, flutes and violins all around her. She then felt the alpha Jikooba place his hand on her forehead.

"The Alicorns call", said the alpha male, "Celestia and the rest of her kind are aware of this therapy ceremony and they appreciate it, all the better"

Cheerilee slightly nodded in agreement so she would not knock the Monkey's hand off. The musicians lowered down the volume of their music to almost a whisper. Cheerilee felt her heartbeat begin to slow way down and she started to feel the warmth of the setting sun on her fur. Her hooves seemed to have grown roots, and the roots fell through the Tree and into the earth far below. She felt her neck stretching upward, her head tilting back and her face yearning for the sky above.

"You in great depression", she heard the alpha Jikooba say. Cheerilee felt her chest tighten, but she remained silent, her eyes still closed.

"You are depressed because of your father's actions", the alpha said.

"Yes", said Cheerilee very softly, though the alpha Monkey wasn't asking for an answer; he was merely stating a fact.

"You were told by your father that he had better plans for you than your plans for already. You refused and he had gone mad, using something to control other sorts of Fauna. He has made you very embarrassed and ashamed that he is your elder", the alpha continued.

Tears filled Cheerilee's eyes. "It's true", she admitted, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"However, you should not be letting this misery of your consume you", continued the alpha, "Listen to the song of your dreams, Cheerilee the Pony...listen"

Cheerilee felt the music of the instruments rise then fall, and with its heartbeat, as if the music were somehow inside her. Tears slid down the fur on her cheeks. They were not tears of sadness, but something she had no name for.

The alpha Jikooba pressed his hand a little harder into Cheerilee's forehead and continued. "Do you hear it? It is the sound of happiness and forgiveness you are going to unleash in the near future"

Cheerilee opened her eyes and looked at the alpha Jikooba. "But look at me. Look at my eyes! I'm disgraced!"

The alpha gazed fully into her sap green eyes. "And then I am disgraced or cursed looking into them?"

"Yes", answered Cheerilee, filled with shame, "And now I'm afraid that all of you are in danger". Cheerilee then started flashing back to the moments she had felt sorry and worried for her father, Carbo. She even had a worrying flashback to when she had accidently brought Griffy to the scene where Carbo went insane with power.

"Listen to me, Cheerilee", said the alpha Monkey, "You might doubt that what I tell you is true, just as you may doubt what you know is true. But will you listen?"

"I'll try", she replied. She then felt so strange, as if she could no longer be certain of anything.

"Now the reason why I say your depression will eventually go away is because that we, the Jikooba, sense something", said the alpha, "The Alicorns are sending us a mental message. Your father will no longer be diabolical in not too much time to come"

"But I think I'm still a failure", sighed Cheerilee, "All I really want to feel on this mission to the Natooli Jungle is some sort of confidence"

"Confidence?" said the alpha Jikooba with a smile "Is that really all you need to feel supported on this adventure with those 8 other Beings?"

The alpha Jikooba then walked over to one of the Tree branches sticking into the giant vine-made "hive". He carefully picked up a jar made of hardened mud that was sitting on this particular branch and walked back over to Cheerilee, peeling away the jar's wax seal. He then dipped four fingers into it, coating each of them with some sort gooey, golden fluid. "Now close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them"

Cheerilee did as she was told and the alpha Monkey began to sing softly, dabbing one finger at a time on Cheerilee's face, her forehead first, then her chin, her right cheek and then her left cheek.

This is what the alpha male sang:

_To the north, south, east and west_

_From the Crocodile's river to the Eagle's nest_

_From the bud to the bloom to the buzzing Bee_

_Watch, withstand, wait and you will see_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cheerilee then felt a drop of the amber-colored liquid slip down her forehead and into her mouth. Curious, she tasted it. It was deliciously sweet, and then she realized it was honey. She sat there rapt, caught in the light of the setting sun, the taste of the honey and the slow, soft piping of music and Birds. With her eyes closed, Cheerilee didn't see the Blue Morpho Butterfly flutter in through one of the giant "hive's" round windows, but she somehow knew exactly what it was when it landed softly on top of her head.

"Don't move", whispered the alpha Monkey.

And then another Blue Morpho came, and another, and then a stream of Blue Morpho Butterflies poured down from the higher Trees from all directions, hundreds of them falling like huge flakes of snow. Each of them fluttered toward Cheerilee. They lightly set down on her face, her shoulders, her back, covering her head to toe in a slowly beating mass of papery wings. That is when Cheerilee started to have a vision in her mind; it was her as a female foal, or filly, with her mother and father.

She saw herself as a foal (before she got her Cutie Mark) back near her old house from when she was growing up, lying in a garden of flowers, the sun on her face. Above her was a tall Orange Tree with fresh and ripe fruit dangling from its branches. Also in the Tree were two young Red Ruffed Lemurs she used to know, feeding on some of the Oranges and chuckling to one another about certain jokes they liked. Cheerilee rolled her head to one side and felt the soft and warm Grass on her cheek. Drowsy, she looked over toward the trunk of the tall Tree and saw her mother drifting off to sleep near her husband's side. Cheerilee was feeling too happy to see her daddy not acting like a Pycho-Pony but acting nice and calm with his family and family friends around.

Then the dream suddenly ended and Cheerilee felt the Butterflies lifting off, one by one. She imagined them swirling overhead. With her eyes still closed, she saw them form a line that slowly vanished through the hole-like window in which they came through.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Open your eyes", whispered the alpha Jikooba.

In a daze, Cheerilee looked around but there was not a Butterfly in sight and if it had not been for the droplet of honey that slid into her mouth, she might have thought that the whole thing was just a dream.

"I think I have my confidence now", Cheerilee said quietly, as much as to herself as to all the Jikooba inside the "hive", "All my dream told me to do was to just think of the good times I had with dad"

"All thanks to the Butterflies", said the alpha Monkey.

"Um, excuse me?" said a familiar male voice from another window of the "hive".

Cheerilee looked to see Griffy perched on the window right there.

"It's already 9:00 PM, really dark out now. You should be sleeping for real now Cheerilee", the Griffin continued and then turned his around, "Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash! I'll need your help in hauling Cheerilee back to the Kapok!"

The three flyers picked up Cheerilee as soon as she excited through the door-like entrance and was picked up by the sides by the two Pegasus Ponies and Griffy was holding her tail for more support back to the large Tree hut with the rest of the Jikooba from the "hive" following them by just leaping to the next Tree.

_To Be Continued_


	14. Breakfast & Getting Ready

The next morning, Cheerilee was the first to wake up for some breakfast. She then remembered what Griffy did a while back on this same adventure; brain waves, stronger than Unicorn Pony magic. She decided to try it out by teleporting herself 10 more feet over to the breakfast table that the Jikooba were already eating at. She concentrated really hard and the next thing Cheerilee knew it, she was already teleported to the breakfast table and started to eat some of the Bananas that were already out. Twilight had her right eye slightly open, witnessing Cheerilee doing that brain wave thing that Griffy did.

"Maybe brain waves really are stronger than magic", Twilight thought to herself.

As everyone else was waking up, they noticed that Rarity was a little reluctant to open her eyes. Rarity was at first ready to complain that she would look ugly without her facial cream and pickle slices but when she looked into a bowl of morning dew water, she was amazed that she looked rather fine.

"Amazing", she said, "Maybe because we are out in a natural environment, I now look wonderful after sleeping, even without cream and pickles. I might have to sleep outside every night now"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They all pretty much loved the food on the wooden table set out.

"My oh my", said Applejack with delight, "These Mangos coated with Kapok sap are rootin' tootin' good"

"How about I roast these Manakin Bird wings", suggested Spike to Griffy.

"I'm good with these honey-coated Macaw eggs", said Griffy. Spike then used his fire on the Manakin Bird wings to make them crispier.

"Okay everypony and every non-Pony on this team", announced Twilight, "We should be getting ready for our battle with Dr. Carbo and stop his evil reign before he unwittingly destroys the planet!"

"Will Carbo also be a meanie to blue-eyed Beings like those bullies of Griffy were?" Pinkie asked Cheerilee.

"I don't know about that", said Cheerilee, "But I do understand he hates Unicorn Ponies for their magic and maybe the color blue"

"Well, I will not stand for this", said Rarity with an agitated face, "All who oppose Unicorn Ponies with blue eyes, such as myself, shall get my hoof in their face"

"We should form a rebellion to all who oppose blue eyes", said Pinkie, "It will have me, Griffy and Rarity in it"

"I don't' think so, Pink", said Griffy, "Now let's get into action in stopping the insane Dr. Carbo!"

"Seems awfully dangerous", said Fluttershy nervously.

_To Be Continued_


	15. Cutie Mark Crusaders on the Way

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were sleeping over at Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Bloom. The three were suddenly waken up from their early morning slumber by a small and sudden tremor in the ground.

"Whoa!" said Scootaloo, "What was that?"

"It didn't feel too trustworthy", said Sweetie Belle, nervously.

"Ah reckon it's got somethin' to do with the 8 representatives of the Elements of Harmony and Cheerilee", suggested Apple Bloom, "Remember? The reason why Sweetie Belle's a part of this sleepover is because Rarity's on the team?"

All of a sudden, the panicking yell of Big Macintosh came from outside. The three foals looked out the window to see Big Mac being interrogated by a tall, green, Crab/Spider-like Creature with a big, fat, gray, hornless Rhinoceros-like Creature (Chop and Digger) using his yoke to pin him down to the ground, choking him.

"Ah told ya'll the first tahme!" said Big Mac, trying to catch his breath, "Ah know were mah sister, Applejack, and her 7 friends are at now but it's sorta top secret"

Chop then used his hoof to press down on Big Mac's yoke, nearly crushing his wind pipe.

"Tell us where they are and what they are doing or else, hissed Digger in his gurgling, Demon-like voice, snapping his huge, Crab-like pincers near Big Mac's face, "Our master, Kurayami needs more evidence of good and faithful things falling"

"Yeah, tell us you dummy!" added Chop, enjoying himself and hoping that Digger liked his way of interrogation.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders decided that something needed to be done so they rushed downstairs, ran out the door and rushed right up to the two genetically-altered Ponies.

"Git your dirty hooves off mah big brother!" yelled Apple Bloom fiercely.

The two genetic mutant Ponies just glanced at the three fillies who then tried to make sad little girl faces to make them seem cute to stop Chop and Digger from torturing Big Macintosh any more.

"Aaaaawww", said Chop, "They're really cute!"

"NO!" snapped Digger, "Do not be hypnotized by their adorable facial expressions aided with adorable optical organs, you bloated fool!"

So Digger then took a deep breath and thought to himself, "I never thought I'd do this to kids"

He then did the unthinkable, try to blast some of his Unicorn Pony magic from his horn at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, yet it was kind of a weak blast of magic he used.

"It seems as though these genetic alterations have somewhat messed up my magic", said Digger out loud to himself.

"Well we Earth Ponies have something you Unicorn Ponies and the Pegasus Ponies don't have!" shouted Chop to Digger with a smile, "We got STRENGTH!"

He then attempted to ram the three foals down with head-butt, but then hesitated when he realized he was trying to hurt kids. He then went back over to Big Mac and got back to pressing the captive's neck with his own yoke.

That's when another tremor struck, this time a little stronger. Chop and Digger got scared and ran away. As soon as the tremor stopped, Big Macintosh pulled himself back up to his feet and coughed.

"Ya'll okay?" Apple Bloom asked her brother.

"Eeeeeyup", replied Big Mac as he walked away to find some breakfast.

After finding out in the newspaper on what the Elements of Harmony's mission was and finding out that the cause for all these random small tremors was because of Dr. Carbo stealing more of the planet's most precious mineral, the three decided that they should do something to help, but what?

After a minute of brain-storming, the three fillies finally came up with the idea to make a launcher of some sort to help them get to the Natooli Jungle in time. They manages to make a launch pad out of old metal from town dumpsters and make a rocket ship-like transport out of wooden boards.

"Are you sure ya'll know what yer doin' Scoot'?", asked Apple Bloom as they got inside the wooden rocket.

"Sure I know what I'm doing", said Scootaloo with pride, "Griffy and Spike tried something like this a while back and they showed me how it works"

"So your best ideas come from the boys?" asked Sweetie Belle.

All of a sudden, Big Macintosh reappeared and took a good look at the rocket-like thing that the little girls made.

"So, ya'll are pretendin' to travel in space?" asked Big Mac.

"Sure", said the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hoping that he would not catch on to what they were actually attempting to do.

"Well then", continued Big Mac, "Ah just hope those heroes and your teacher, Cheerilee, come back safely and alahve"

As soon as Big Mac left, the three foals activated the poorly designed button which launched the three of them high into the sky, heading right in the direction for the Natooli Jungle.

_To Be Continued_


	16. Carbo Loses his Mind

Back in the Natooli Jungle Cheerilee and the 8 hero friends were racing as fast as they could to find and stop Carbo, for the recent tremors of the planet starting lose stability were becoming more frequent and stronger. All around, many other native Creatures were running, flying and gliding in panic from the small earthquakes; Cockatoos, Macaws, Coatis, Vipers, Voles, Draco Lizards, Toads, Frogs, Moths, Locusts and more.

Griffy started to sense something as if it were talking at him from the side as he flew quickly through the air. The voice was muffled and sounded a lot like Fluttershy.

"You say something?" he asked Fluttershy.

"No", she replied, with a worried expression.

That's when realized that the power of brain waves was happening to him again, he was accidently reading Fluttershy's mind.

"_If the planet is going to collapse_", Fluttershy thought to herself, "_Then I will never find some stallion who will love me_"

"Did I just mind-read what I thought I mind-read?" said Griffy, "Thank you brain waves, stronger than magic"

"Should I really say that I have the goal of finding the one for me?", Fluttershy asked Griffy nervously and blushing.

All of a sudden, another earthquake, even bigger than the last ones, came rumbling through the pathway of the group. It lead them straight to the large clearing were Dr. Carbo had his side bags filled with small chunks of the unnamed precious mineral and was also having mind-controlled Jungle Giant Scorpions, Saber-Toothed Apes, Lizards Wolves and Mega-Wasps mine out the minerals out of the large hill with their own physically powerful legs and mouths.

"Well well well", said Carbo, his right eye twitching psychotically, "My intelligent daughter and the blue-eyed Pygmy Griffin have returned with back-up, eh?"

"Daddy, this has to stop!" demanded Cheerilee, "Do you realize that you're destroying our own home planet?"

"These bits of the rainbow mineral will turn into a space shuttle for me to escape alive, obviously", replied her father.

"You should know that this mineral can't do something like that", said Twilight, "It can only stabilize the whole planet and have that strange connection to carbon-based life forms with mental capacities and..."

Suddenly, Carbo stormed right over to Twilight, quickly bucked her over and pinned her to the ground with his front left hoof on her throat.

"You talk too much", hissed Dr. Carbo, "This is one of the many reasons why I despise you Unicorn Ponies"

He then took out some of the minerals out of his side pack, chewed it up in his mouth and blow the dust out and ran 20 feet away from the group. The blown dust created a force field around the 9 travelers, trapping them inside.

The Unicorn Ponies tried breaking the shield with magic beams but the shield was too strong. Even when the heroes activated their Elements of Harmony powers, the shield still did not break. They all decided it was no use and deactivated their powers.

"You should all not underestimate the power of this mineral", snickered Carbo as walked over to the domed force field that held the 9 inside, "The only ones who can go in and out of these mineral barriers are ones who are mentally controlled"

He then grabbed a piece of the mineral from his side pack and shook with his teeth. A beam of energy shot through the shield struck Applejack. AJ then started twitching and found herself slip into mental insanity, and the urge to move towards the mineral.

"AJ, STOP!" shouted Spike as he swiftly yanked Applejack's tail, "You can resist the effects!"

Applejack halted before she got to the edge of the barrier, turned her head toward the others; revealing her eyes to be glowing red from the mineral's natural effects. She then realized that he species rate of intelligence was stronger than she thought when she was first being controlled. She closed her now menacing-looking eyes and shook her head. She opened her eyes and saw her reflection on the energy shield to see that her eyes were back to being their green eye color.

"Wow", she said, "That was strangely too easy"

"Probably because the mineral works better on less intelligent Creatures", said Dr. Carbo, now angry that AJ resisted the effects due to Ponies being very intelligent for herbivores, "Maybe the Mountain Dragon or the Pygmy Griffin shall do nicely"

"But I can't fly yet", said Spike.

"Well you better not doing anything creepy right now", said Griffy, sweating in fear and grinning nervously.

"Whatever you did not say I shall do to you", said Carbo.

Carbo then took another piece, shook again and the beam of energy shoot Griffy. Griffy twitched and lost balance on all four feet, Fluttershy ran up to him, concerned. Griffy just made a few choking sounds as his eyes slowly started to glow red. He then got back up to his four feet and walked mindlessly through the barrier of elemental energy and stood next to Carbo.

"Yes", said Carbo, beginning to officially lose his mind, "YES! MWA-HA-HA! HAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

_To Be Continued_


	17. Apple Bloom's Cuteness Wins

All Spike and the 7 Ponies could do was sit inside the colorful domed barrier of elemental energy and watch in horror as Griffy stood by Carbo's side and helped him bark out orders to the mining Creatures.

"At least I can fantasize about one particular gal without getting bonked on the head all the time", Spike mumbled, turning his head towards Rarity and looked at her with a love-induced face. Rarity, however, took no notice and kept staring through the energy barrier they were all trapped in.

Griffy, thanks' to his natural sharp hearing, suddenly heard every single word Spike mumbled, turned around towards the domed energy barrier, got into a pouncing position, made growl-like squawk noise from anger and bolted straight through the domed barrier (able to do this since he was under the rainbow-colored mineral's effects), grabbing hold of Spike's throat and pinned him to the dome's wall. The Pygmy Griffin may have still been under control, but he could still remember his urge to stop Spike from loving Rarity.

"You talk too much about that Equine", hissed Griffy, revealing his claws from his Lion-like back feet, "Now stop this nonsense forever or I shall commit homicide on you"

"Griffy", stammered Fluttershy, starting to shed tears by Griffy's unusual aggression, "How could you say such things?"

Griffy snarled fiercely at her, his eyes still glowing red. He then threw Spike at Twilight and exited through the domed energy barrier.

"Enjoy your Reptilian slave, Mammals", said Griffy, "After all, you don't see him as a friend"

"That's not true", said Twilight, "Spike is not just my #1 assistant, he's also my #1 friend"

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All of a sudden, Griffy and Dr. Carbo saw something large flying through the air above the Trees and straight towards them. It crashed on the ground in front of them and the two saw that it was a small, space shuttle-like object made out of wooden planks. Out of the poorly done rocket thing came the Cutie Mark Crusaders ready for action. "We made it!" said Sweetie Belle gleefully.

"WHAT?" gasped the 8 captives in the energy dome, "What are you all doing here?"

"Here to save the day and possibly earn our Cutie Marks", said Scootaloo heroically.

"I can't believe that my three most courageous students are here to save us", said Cheerileee.

"You three are students to my daughter?" said Carbo, twitching, "That makes the action around here more suspenseful. ATTACK THOSE FILLIES, GRIFFY!"

All Griffy did, while still under the mineral's control, wondered in confusion on what he was really supposed to do here.

"_The Cutie Mark Crusaders are in a position like they are ready to battle_", Griffy said in his mind, "_What if they really are the enemy?_"

Griffy then flew off the ground and made a high-pitched danger call that was half Lion roar and half Eagle cry. He then swooped towards the three foals, talons at the ready. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo jumped out of his way, but Apple Bloom was snatched by his powerful grasp. Griffy then landed on the ground, held up Apple Bloom high with one grasper by her torso and growled menacingly.

"APPLE BLOOM!" cried out Applejack in horror.

"Griffy", wept Apple Bloom, shedding tears of sadness, "Don't you remember me? Ah'm Apple Bloom? Ah was one of the first foals you ever met and you say bein' cute is mah deadliest weapon?"

"Viingizui, why would I remember something like that?" growled Griffy, "How do you wish to get slaughtered?"

Just then, one of Apple Bloom's tears ran down Griffy's arm and into his eye. This then caused him to shut both of his eyes and something extraordinary happened, Apple Bloom's strong sorrow and slight fear for his current condition was in that tears and started to do something amazing to him. He then opened both his eyes, revealing the glowing red color to be gone and his regular light blue eye color was back. The effect of the mineral had worn off thanks' to salt deposits and strong emotion from another.

"What the?", Griffy mumbled and looked up to see his own hand holding a teary-eyed Apple Bloom high up in the air by her torso, "Apple Bloom? What…..what's going on here?"

"What's important is ya'll are back", said Apple Bloom sweetly, her tears of sadness becoming tears of joy.

"DRAT!" snarled Carbo, "This battle is not over yet!"

_To Be Continued_


	18. Carbo's Insanity at Full Max

Carbo used more of the mineral to give new orders to his controlled Creatures. He took out another piece of the mineral out of his side pack with his teeth and whispered his order with the chunk in his mouth. He then shook it and a much more brighter beam of natural energy shot from it and towards the Lizard Wolves, Saber-Toothed Apes, Mega-Wasps (huge 7 foot long Wasps) and Jungle Giant Scorpions. The new blast had Carbo's new order whispered within it and it took its toll, the Creatures had a new command to stop digging up the mineral for now and attack the 12 travelers.

One of the Saber-Toothed Apes (Gorilla-like Apes with Walrus-like tusks) lumbered over towards Griffy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders and suddenly its eyes started fade from glowing red back to their normal brown color.

"Looks like the effects are only temporary", said Griffy.

The Ape then got frightened about all this activity and wanted to talk to these heroes about it. It then tried talking by doing certain hand gestures and grunting a bit.

"Are you scared?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Ssssscaaarrredd", grunted the Ape.

"Wow", said Griffy with wide-eyed amazement, "These Apes are smart enough to repeat like Parrots!"

The Saber-Toothed Ape clearly wanted to fight back against the insane Dr. Carbo with some help so it picked up Griffy and the three foals, placing them on top of its back and started charging towards Carbo, making verbal noises of wanting to battle.

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"ATTACK THE TRAITOR!" shouted Dr. Carbo to the rest of the mind-controlled Creatures, pointing at the charging Saber-Toothed Ape with Griffy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders on its back.

Suddenly another tremor struck and the massive shaking of this particular tremor started to shake the brain-washing effects of the unnamed mineral out of the controlled Creature's heads as well as destroy the domed shield of the mineral's energy from around the 8 captives. The controlled Creatures were all back to normal with their regular eyes and behaviors in seconds. The stopped to let Griffy and the fillies get off and then get back to revenge on Carbo.

Carbo just looked around in horror at the many things about to take him: several Jungle Giant Scorpions, several Mega-Wasps, several Lizard Wolves, several Saber-Toothed Apes, Griffy, Spike, three foals, his daughter and the six main Ponies.

"You all forgot about one thing this stuff can do", snikered Carbo, "It can do ANYTHING to ANY living Organism!"

That's when Carbo did the unthinkable; he took out yet another piece of the mineral from his side pack and swallowed it whole. He then twitched as the mineral's effects took ahold of him, his legs began shaking, his natural electric field began to rapidly reveal streaks of electricity zoom across his skin and fur and finally; he grew 5 times his original size, his tongue grew longer, his tail became bony and Snake-like, his eyes became Tiger-like and he was laughing with raging power (literally and physically).

_To Be Continued_


	19. Almost Time for Victory

From the sight of the genetically-enhanced Carbo, the four species of controlled Animals all made a break for the Trees in terror.

"DADDY!" cried out Cheerilee, shocked from the sight of her father being enormous and having some new physical characteristics from eating the mineral, "NO! You can't be serious!"

"But I am serious", spoke Dr. Carbo in a much deeper version of his regular voice, "Now, my daughter, you and your companions have no possible way of stopping me, not even Unicorn Pony magic nor the Elements of Harmony can stop this madness of my new great power! MWA-HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You forgot one thing Carbo!" shouted Griffy, "It's something anything with a mental capacity can do, Brain waves!"

"Oh dear", muttered Carbo under his own breath.

Griffy, Spike and the 10 Ponies started to try and get their natural brain powers going, making faces as though they were all pushing something really heavy.

"That could take hours to master", laughed Carbo.

Suddenly, intense auras from the brain waves began to shine from all our heroes' heads, all 12 of them. The auras then combined together in a great and colorful beam that blasted right at the massive Earth Pony. All Carbo could do was wail in agony as the beam began to somehow decrease the large amounts of the rainbow-colored mineral in his body. This caused his new physical traits to turn back to their normal appearance before he ate the mineral and his body size to shrink back down to his original size.

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"Not much Upendoha", said Griffy as soon as Carbo collapsed, unconscious, "But it was worth it"

"What does Upendoha mean?" asked Spike, "Is that Gabbagonian?"

"Yes", replied Griffy, "It means "love", now let's get back to this tragic family moment for poor Cheerilee"

Griffy was right on this moment happening; Cheerilee had immediately galloped over to her father, checking for any signs of life. Carbo slowly opened his eyes to see his daughter's worried face looking down at him.

"I don't think I'm going to last much longer in this world", moaned Carbo in a breathless voice, "Return all the minerals back to the spot I was digging them up, for the planet's sake. And also, forget about my current health"

"No daddy!" wept Cheerilee, tears pouring out from her eyes and down her face, "You can't be going to push up Daisies from that mineral's impact on you!"

"Oh", interjected Pinkie Pie, "I thought he was dying"

"Are me and Spike going to have to roast swampmallows over your body once you pass away?" asked Griffy.

"You mean marshmallows", said Spike, "And didn't you once tell me that it's wrong to joke about someone's death?"

"Good point", replied Griffy.

"Face it", moaned Carbo, "I'm done for"

"Not if we can help", said a familiar elderly voice. There was the alpha male Jikooba Monkey and three assistant Jikooba Monkeys with him standing on a large boulder nearby.

They rushed over to Carbo with some herbal medicine already grinded up for usage, gave it to Carbo and he swallowed it slowly. Cheerilee wept, for she thought it was too late for such cures to work.

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After a few minutes of silence from Carbo and most of the group throwing the minerals back into the ground, Cheerilee believed her father to be officially dead, gone forever.

"Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels", announced Cheerilee with an incredibly depressed face, "His was the most...insanely scientific"

"W-w-w-what do you m-m-m-mean?" mumbled a familiar voice. Carbo was alive, opening his eyes up and slowly attempting to get back on his feet. Cheerilee helped him to his feet, of course.

"You see, the herbal mixtures worked", said the alpha Monkey.

"Now this had to be", appointed Rarity, "One of the most wildest and somewhat glamorous adventure of all, even though I somehow lost those precious Gabbagonian accessories to some crazy Monkeys"

One of the Monkeys made a slightly suspicious look on his face and crept away in embarrassment.

"You can still be glamorous", said Spike, beginning to fantasize about her.

"Ahem!" Griffy grunted.

"Got to run now!" said Spike.

"Hold on Spike, wait a minute!" said Griffy grabbing hold of Spike's tail, "Before I chase you around in some sort of comedic way, I have to tell you something. Look at yourself, you're a pathetic wreck. You keep doing this whenever you have the chance. You have some unnatural attraction to Ponies and it's obviously a spell put into your brain by Kurayami, inventor of evil, to spread more unnatural behaviors around. You really need to find some Dragon girl to chase after, I'm serious Spike"

Spike just stared at Griffy with a personally ashamed face and said absolutely nothing.

"Is another reason why you keep doing this is because you like to annoy me?" asked Griffy.

"Uuuuuhh...yeah", replied Spike with a worried expression.

"Okay, that's it", snarled Griffy, "You're going down!"

Twilight noticed a small cloud of dust nearby with Griffy and Spike's limbs and tails swinging around in a cartoonish manor.

"Break it up you two", she said as she telekinized both of them with her magic, "We got to take Dr. Carbo to Canterlot to debate his future"

_To Be Continued_


	20. Sorrow and Happiness

Griffy, Spike and the 11 Ponies boarded back onto CHIP in its space shuttle-like mode and took off into the air for Canterlot. Cheerilee was so happy to see her father no longer unwell and insane, but he was still a little physically weak.

"Did power really make me go crazy?" Carbo asked Cheerilee with a weak voice.

"You did, sad to say", replied Cheerilee, "But it's great that your back dad"

"Viingizui!" exclaimed Griffy with a neutral expression, "You really gave us all a hard time, but it's still good to say Kwa-herha to your insane lust for power"

"Kwa-herha?" asked Carbo "Does that mean "goodbye" or something?"

"Yes it does", replied Griffy, "It's in my native language, Gabbagonian"

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After a logical conversation with Griffy, Carbo then decided to ask Griffy one of the most personal questions Griffy had ever heard in his life.

"Why don't you just go back to your home in the Everfree Forest, Gabbagon?" he asked the Pygmy Griffin, "Seriously, if you really can't stand the Pony environment needing our attention to function properly"

Griffy's heart started to beat rapidly from nervousness.

"ALL RIGHT!" he shouted out loud for the rest of the group on CHIP to hear, "I am going to make a confession; it is an embarrassing secret I've hidden from you all for so long"

"How can you be personally ashamed of this thing?" asked Twilight, worried for Griffy's dignity, "We've all done bad things in past that we're not proud of"

"It is the fourth reason why I left the Everfree Forest in the first place", Griffy said in a nervous voice, "Mainly Gabbagon, my own home area"

"Well?" asked Fluttershy, very concerned for Griffy's emotions, "What is it?"

"Here's the truth of the fourth reason I left home that I have been hiding from all of you for so long", Griffy continued, taking a deep breath and then beginning, "I was politically banished from Gabbagon"

Spike and the 11 Ponies gasped in shock at what Griffy just stated: him, banished from the one place he was hatched, raised and talked about a lot by his own fellow Gabbagonians.

"The elderly Bobcat we talked to was not there on that humiliating day, so that's why he did not try and capture me or tell me to hide anywhere", sighed Griffy, tears beginning to pour from his light blue eyes, "For you see, I had broken the #1 law in all of Gabbagon: Never eat other Gabbagonian citizens"

"So you ate one of your neighbors?" asked Rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash!" snapped Rarity, poking Rainbow with her horn, "Don't put what happened to Griffy in a harsh way"

"It's alright", said Griffy, "See, I was out walking that day, and I suddenly got extremely hungry from all the physical exercise I had just done a few minutes before. I knew I could just eat the Insects or the fruit, for they are not really Gabbagonian residents, but time on my hunger was very short when I'm very hungry"

"What do you mean by time being short when you're hungry?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well since I follow nature", said Griffy, "It pretty much straightened out my natural hunger levels. Plus, I don't eat when I'm not hungry. Now where was I? Oh yeah. I then noticed one of the Voles that lived in Gabbagon scurrying past me, also looking for food I presume. I had no instinctual choice, but to eat that Vole. Every Gabbagonian in the area spotted me devouring it and I was forced to leave Gabbagon forever. I don't know if my family was there at the time, but if they were then they would be very upset and sad for me now. After that, I could not find a place in the Everfree Forest outside of Gabbagon to live in, for it was to predator-infested, but I did get a chance to get to the Everfree Forest's most public library to research Ponytalk to speak to you Ponies as I planned for a new life outside of the forest, I the unnatural Pony world. Those old bullies, Hilda, Grooli and Coyvo, suddenly caught up with me with the girl Pygmy Griffin I had always had a crush on, Glonia, talked into coming with them. They told me to leave the Everfree Forest forever and told Glonia a whole mess of lies about me. And then I went on my great journey throughout Equestria to find a new home and stuff"

Griffy then covered his eyes with his talons and began to weep; the saddest he had ever been in his life. As he cried, Fluttershy came over and hugged him gently to cheer him up, feeling bad for his loss of his right to live in Gabbagon.

"Well at least you now have us", said Fluttershy sweetly, "We, your 7 close friends, are like your family in a way"

"Y-you r-r-really think so?" asked Griffy, taking his claws off his face and looking up at Fluttershy with his tear-filled blue eyes.

"We sure are like a family in a way Griff", said Applejack.

"Looks like your just as miserable as I was about my dad", said Cheerilee, "But remember, those bad times are all in the past, just as I had to learn"

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CHIP finally landed in Canterlot and the whole crew of 13 boarded off. Carbo was taken to the Canterlot hospital to get proper operation to treat the overdose of the minerals he swallowed. Cheerilee sat with the others in the Canterlot Park, wondering about her father getting the right treatments while he was in the hospital.

"Don't worry Cheer'", said Spike, "He'll get better in no time"

"Never doubt medics", added Griffy.

Griffy was then suddenly grabbed hold of by Pinkie Pie and she stared directly into his eyes with a joyful smile.

"But seriously Griffy", she said, "We should really make a rebellion against any who oppose blue eyes"

"What is it with you", said Griffy, gently pushing Pinkie off of him.

Carbo eventually came back to normal health and decided to live in Ponyville to support his daughter's career as a teacher.

_The End_

_(The story continues with "The Shifting Sands")_


End file.
